Julian Edelman’s presence help fills leadership void for Patriots
With quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski not participating in Patriots OTAs, the young players don’t have the benefit of the examples they set and the leadership they bring. To balance that out, receiver Julian Edelman is back, after a torn ACL wiped out his entire 2017 season.
Having him out there brings leadership to this team, he brings excitement to this team and he brings an aggressive nature to this team, Patriots safety Duron Harman recently told Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. Having him out here makes the team better.
He said the restrictions imposed by the league on players go against the beliefs that protesters like Kaepernick have stood up for the past couple years.
Notes: Vrabel said he told the Titans on Wednesday morning that the team and controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk will support players on making a decision on the national anthem when the time comes. Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker said that’s not a decision that has to be made until September.
The claims administrators confirmed Wednesday that more than $300 million has been paid out from about $439 million that has been awarded through the claims process— nearly three times the expected amount for the first year of the settlement.
They also said they have the ability to determine if a claim is fraudulent and flag it for denial. The power of a special investigator would be to determine if there was purposeful intent behind the fraudulent claims.
Tarlowe said if intent is determined, cases could be referred to the Department of Justice, lawyers and doctors could be turned in to professional ethics panels and lose their ability to practice or other punitive measures might be taken.